Adelaide United's coaching selection panel has quit after the club rejected its recommendation to sack assistant coach Michael Valkanis.

The panel of former Socceroos Craig Foster, John Perin and Alex Tobin, and Reds co-owner Bruno Marveggio was appointed in February to select a new coach after John Kosmina stepped down.

Valkanis took over as interim coach but the club announced yesterday he will not seek the job full-time and will instead return to his previous role as an assistant.

Perin says it should have been up to the new head coach to select an assistant and the panel recommended that Valkanis should leave the club.

The club says a new panel to select a head coach will be set up, but Perin says two potential candidates for the top job have already pulled out because Valkanis will remain as an assistant.

"It was up to the board member who was sitting on the panel, in this case Bruno, to relay back to the board - which he did - that at this stage perhaps Micky wasn't quite up to the level of what was required for the club and there was no need for him to apply," he said.

"It would probably be unhealthy to have him hanging around with a new coach coming in, him having been the coach having to step down.

It would probably be unhealthy to have him hanging around with a new coach coming in, him having been the coach having to step down.

John Perin

"Having someone else come in, it may have been a bit of an icy atmosphere to work in, so the panel suggested that maybe the best would be if Micky moved on and further enhance his career elsewhere.

"The board said Micky Valkanis will be the assistant coach regardless of who the coach is going to be so they obviously had a different agenda than what we had.

"Once Micky was given the job as assistant coach there was no point in going any further because it looked like they were putting the cart before the horse.

"We just can't understand what the hell's going on.

"We just expressed our disappointment at the way the whole thing panned out.

"We were given certain terms of reference which were since changed a couple of times. We just decided that we were wasting our time and everybody else's time and we could diversify our time elsewhere. So we had no choice but to resign."

Perin said the club's season has been a 'shambles' and blamed chairman Greg Griffin for the decision to reappoint Valkanis.

"He's pretty much the heart and soul of the club. He seems to make all of the football decisions and most of the other decisions. Maybe he should be coaching as well."

In a statement on his Facebook page, panellist Craig Foster said he walked away because discussions relating to the proposed selection process failed to lead to a satisfactory resolution.

Going nowhere

Valkanis has vowed to remain as assistant coach, insisting nothing has changed.

"I was appointed as assistant last year and I've always been the assistant. I took over the job as interim coach after the previous coach resigned," he said.

"I had to make up my mind whether I was going to continue as an assistant or put up my hand for the head coach's role.

"I decided early on I would continue as an assistant so it wasn't a new appointment, it was an appointment that has been in place for two years now so I don't see what the issue is.

He said it was unsettling to hear the reasons behind the panel's decision to resign.

I'll continue doing my job. It's disappointing to hear how people react and I've always put the club first and done everything for the club.

Michael Valkanis

"I don't just quit. People were selected to be on the committee to find a head coach and that was their role. Now, why they're not doing that is not for me to discuss," he said.

"They've stated their opinion, why they didn't do it. I can't control that.

"I'll continue doing my job. It's disappointing to hear how people react and I've always put the club first and done everything for the club.

"I think I've done the best I can in whatever role I've been in, whether it's been a player, a youth team coach, an assistant coach or an interim coach.

"I'm sure the club will put in place a head coach very soon. We hit the ground working and once that happens and we start playing games, everything will be long forgotten and people will start jumping board when we're doing a good job again."

Chairman Greg Griffin says a new panel to select a head coach will be decided as soon as possible.

Griffin denies there is a problem with the club's processes and has already consulted vice-captain Cassio on ways to move forward.

"I rang Cassio last night after this panel thing came out. Cassio is entirely happy with how we dealt with it and he's working with us to get a new panel up and new coach appointed," he said.